strangematterfandomcom-20200215-history
Timeline
The following is a timeline of the history of the Strange Matter Earth. Events not specifically listed are extrapolated to have happened in the same way as actual history. The 19th Century 1861 ● Karl Ruprecht Vachss born in Zurich, Switzerland. Family soon relocates to Prussia, in service to Otto von Bismarck’s board of military advisors. 1891 ● Karl Ruprecht Vachss, age 30, volunteers for a program in Prussia to create a super-human soldier. After some weeks of surgery, bonding lycanthropy and vampirism together within one subject is mostly successful. Vachss is nicknamed ‘der Wulf’ by Wilhelm II and knighted. During knighting, Vachss changes his surname to Wulff. 1897 ● Francis Jones is born in New York City. Complications during childbirth leave his father to care for him alone. The Early 20th Century 1900 ● James “Jimmy” Recard and Elise Recard are born to Henry Recard somewhere “out west”. Henry is a somewhat famous gambler and former drifter known for his luck, but he becomes a U.S. Marshal when his wife is killed in a shoot-out. 1906 ● Richard and Magdalena Perkins are crushed when a truck delivering loads of sugar overturns onto a curb. ● Joseph Perkins is orphaned and left to fend for himself on the streets of New York. ● While in Prague delivering a lecture on military law, Karl Wulff meets and has a coffee with Franz Kafka, then a student. The two go on to exchange letters until Kafka’s unfortunate death in 1924. 1910 ● Wallace Bannon is born. His parents are Royce & Miriam Bannon. Working as an assistant to a technician in the city of Chicago while his wife works as a maid, life isn’t easy on the Bannons. 1911 ● Andrew Gray is born to Thomas and Sarah Gray, both parents working as teachers in Washington D.C. 1912 ● Brock Jackson is born to Stone “The Wall” Jackson and Mary Jackson. Stone is a locally known pugilist who instills into Brock his own unique set of morals at an early age. ● Maharaj Kumari Eleonora della Torre is born in the City of Pearls, in the Princely state of Hyderabad, India. Her mother is a widow named Benigna della Torre, who is employed as a governess for the Nizam’s family. Eleonora’s childhood is uneventful and chilly. ● Henry Recard’s luck turns and he is shot dead by an angered drunk. The two twelve year old twins are sent to St. Louis to be watched by an aunt on their mother’s side. 1914 ● The events of World War I. Wulff serves Prussia. ● A 14 year old Joseph Perkins makes a name for himself in the vagrant fighting arenas. 1915 ● An 18 year old Francis Jones signs up to the US army. He is recognized for his talent and devotion and makes sergeant in November. ● A Recard, a cousin to the two young children in St. Louis, joins the U.S. Army. He becomes well known in his unit after running into no man’s land to retrieve a wounded comrade whilst under machine gun fire. He returns to his trench with bullet holes throughout his uniform, but receives no injuries. Days later, he is directly hit by mortar fire. 1916 ● Brock meets Wallace Bannon for the first time at age 4 and the two become fast friends. ● Somewhere in France, Wulff is gassed repeatedly in a Prussian trench. He disappears for a time, while an enormous wolf in suspenders and shredded trousers is seen stalking the nearby forests. A month later he re-emerges, though his face will never be the same. 1917 ● Joseph Perkins, age 17 lies about his age to enlist in the war. His bravado and skill in battle quickly shoot him up through the ranks of the military. It is rumored he punched an artillery shell out of the air and back at the enemy lines during this time. ● Francis Jones is deployed to France in charge of a small elite unit that passed into rumor, colloquially known as the “Sammies”. 1918 ● ‘Fightin’ Joe’ Perkins’ first plane, ‘The Kaiser-Kracker’ is shot down over Europe. Joe proceeds on a rampage that reportedly leads him to a standoff with Kaiser Wilhelm II, who it is rumoured he socked in the face. ● With the War ending, Francis Jones begins to lead his men to their transport home on the coast of France. However, a freak thunderstorm drives the unit out of their way. They discover a long hidden Gaulish tomb, laced with traps that kill all but Francis. Francis manages to escape and catch his transport. ● Shortly after the war, Karl Wulff offers to stand trial for war crimes, stating “We have redefined warfare to a degree for which none of us was prepared. I have done things to other men I can never forget.” He is quietly dismissed from court. 1920 ● Benigna della Torre leaves the employ of the Nizam with a small fortune, moving to the expansive manse of her deceased husband in England along with her daughter Eleonora. Eleonora begins going by the name “Elle” as her name is difficult to pronounce for the other children at the boarding school. 1923 ● Jimmy Recard, now an adult, joins the French Foreign Legion after a few years working as a reporter. He gains the nickname “Blackjack” by never losing a game and for his luck in general. His sister, Elise, becomes an alcohol runner during Prohibition. 1924 ● Karl Wulff is one of very few attendees to the funeral of Franz Kafka. 1925 ● Joseph Perkins is briefly married to a French woman named Sophie Roux. They have two children, Jean and Madeline, both of whom take their mother’s name. The two are never married and Joe only visits sporadically as the years and circumstances see fit. ● Jimmy leaves the Legion, now an independent explorer. Elise moves to San Fransisco to avoid enemies made in St. Louis, and has a daughter. The father of the child is killed in a mugging. Elise keeps her last name, as does her daughter, Mary. 1926 ● Jimmy visits Scotland and sires a son. He is named Jack, though his mother calls him “Jacky”. She dies of sickness a few months after the boy’s birth. Jimmy moves to San Fransisco to live near his sister and raise his son. 1927 ● Francis Jones, now at home in New York, marries Tamsin Horlick. Tamsin becomes pregnant soon after. 1928 ● Tamsin Jones is shot dead during a bank robbery while pregnant. Francis Jones disappears and is presumed dead soon after. ● Wallace Bannon is accepted into the Tuskegee Institute, where he gains minor national fame for his excellence in the Sciences and particularly his expertise in the area of electromagnetism, a curiousity given the gradual, declining public opinion of Nikolai Tesla, one of the leaders in the field. 1929 ● The Weimar Republic begins to have serious problems in leadership. Wulff emigrates to England, swearing to serve George V. While his knighthood under Prussia is not recognised, he has an awesome moustache during this time. The 1930s 1930 ● Stone Jackson dies of tuberculosis. Brock, age 18, follows in his father’s footsteps and becomes an underground boxer to earn a living for himself and his widowed mother, despite her protests. ● Eleonora “Elle” della Torre is educated at Oxford, earning doctorates in both Archaeology and Mathematics at the precocious age of 18. 1931 ● Andrew Gray joins the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, noted for his hand to hand fighting skills. 1933 ● Eleonora “Elle” della Torre unearths the Apeirogonal Antiprism while on a dig in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, and begins to study the mysterious object. ● Jimmy leaves his son in the care of his sister, embarking on an adventure with a friend from his Legion days to Egypt. He returns months later exhausted, wounded, and with a large bag filled with antiquities. This begins a series of periodic adventures throughout the thirties. They allow his son, sister, and niece to live comfortably, but his son becomes distant as Jimmy’s time away from home increases. 1935 ● Andrew Gray receives a commendation after single handedly thwarting the acts of an occultist group kidnapping children in the Metro DC area. Various mystical artifacts are taking into police custody after the bust. ● Eleonora “Elle” della Torre disappears from her lab along with all of her research. Despite offers of large rewards by her family, no ransom was ever made. ● Wallace Bannon, a minor figure in the scientific community, suddenly ceases publishing and participating in the community. He moves to Detroit, Michigan and begins working for General Motors. He frequently spends time at their R&D facilities in Warren, Michigan. The exact nature of his work for the company at this time is unkonwn. 1936 ● After some success, Brock (now known as “The Rock” in the ring) suffers a concussion that leaves him recovering for a week. He is never quite the same. His first wife, Edna, forbids him from ever entering the ring again. ● Bald Eagle makes headlines by capturing renowned supervillain “The Killjoy”. He gives a good impression to the press but news soon turns to question his often violent methods. ● Elle della Torre and her research used to further occult rituals by the Nazi party, though she escaped after being the sole survivor at a research facility in Baden. The experiment to which she is exposed forever alters her, giving her strange powers. She flees back to her family home in London. 1938 ● Brock, seeking adventure, drops everything and travels to Africa to wrestle a lion. Edna divorces him. ● In early 1938 Andrew Gray is formally asked to leave the MPDC, after being seen using an occult tome to practice magic. Less than a year later he starts up Brimstone Investigations, a paranormal detective agency. ● Elle della Torre begins work as a cryptographer, and lives a reclusive lifestyle where none but her mute servant from Taiwan, called simply Ya, are allowed to come into direct contact with her. Her work is without peer, and she becomes known as an expert in her field. ● Bald Eagle battles the Bronze Baron, eventually besting him in a battle of wits and tact. However, the Baron manages to flee to Germany where he offers his technological services to the Reich. He develops the Mechanisch Soldaten, the first of his trademark machine minions. Later, during the Second World War, they would become colloquially known as the “War Gears”. 1939 ● Brock wrestles a lion to unknown result. On the trip home, he meets his second wife, a British woman named Alice Crookston, and the two are married three months later. The 1940s 1940 ● Bald Eagle accidentally kills a mugger during an alleyway brawl. He makes a statement to the press that he is retiring but does not reveal his identity. ● On a trip back to England, Alice Jackson’s ship is caught in a storm and lost at sea. It is presumed there are no survivors. ● Elise Recard is killed by an enemy Jimmy makes in his travels. This man is Jonas Eberstark, a Nazi spy. He escapes, forcing Jimmy to care for his son and niece by himself. ● Wallace Bannon suddenly leaves the employ of General Motors. He remains unemployed, moving to New York City. 19?? ● Wulff is photographed in Russia with a group of very pale children. Wulff is smoking, while the children are performing various exercises; one of them is emulating his posture. 1941 ● Brock, age 29, enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps to join the fight in Europe. Wulff seen in France. ● Bald Eagle comes out of retirement and is conscripted by the US military. He serves as a tactical advisor, refusing to take part in the actual fighting, much to the frustration of commanding officers. ● After abandoning his less than lucrative business as a detective, Andrew Gray, aged 30 enlists in the U.S Army. ● Doctor Elle della Torre works with MI-1 (Directorate of Military Intelligence) efforts during the war as a cryptographer and occult history advisor. She has her manservant deliver all documents by hand rather than break from her reclusive lifestyle. 1942 ● Joe Perkins ambushes Brock at a seedy bar in an undisclosed town in Middle America. The two fight for nearly ten days straight, nearly destroying the town in the battle. At sunrise on the eleventh day, the two decide they shall be chums. ● Andrew Gray is linked to a garrison of Germans in France spontaneously turning into various domestic house pets. He proceeds to hand out the assortment of puppies and kittens to local children. It doesn’t take long after for the U.S command to become aware of his talent. ● Despite his older age, Jimmy Recard joins the O.S.S as a “special consultant”, often in the North African Campaign. His luck continues to hold out, and he uses Blackjack as his call sign. Meanwhile his son Jacky becomes even more resentful towards his father and runs away to gamble in New Orleans. His niece Mary works in a munitions factory. When she turns 18 the following year she manages to smuggle herself into France, helping the resistance. 1943 ● Brock earns a reputation as a tough son of a bitch and is promoted to Staff Sergeant in just 2 years in the Marine Corps. ● A special multinational task force is formed by the Allies of those with extraordinary abilities. Their mission, called “Operation Mongoose,” is to disrupt the growing threat posed by the Nazi’s superhuman experimentation. Jackson earns a spot due to his seemingly mythical tenacity. Others on the team include Andrew Gray, Wallace Bannon, Joseph “Fightin’ Joe” Perkins, Jimmy “Blackjack” Recard, “Bald Eagle,” and Karl Ruprecht Wulff. Fightin’ Joe is appointed as the commander of the task force, and they are offered a great deal of autonomy to accomplish their mission. ● Nikolai Tesla dies in a Hotel Suite in New York, ostracized by the scientific community for his bizarre claims on possible applications for his research. Wallace, a long time fan of the Serbian pioneer is able to secure notes on some of Tesla’s technology. He is able to invent a design he straightforwardly names “The Shock Cannon” and suddenly disappears, along with the design. This breakthrough and his connection to Brock Jackson allow him entrance into Operation Mongoose. ● Joe Perkins parachutes by himself into Austria on a mission to assassinate Joseph Goebbels. He is thwarted by Goebbels’ bodyguard: Steinmauer, a maniac twisted through medical experiments. ● Fightin’ Joe speaks to his son, Jean, for the last time. Urging him to join his battle to end Nazi rule in Europe. His son refuses, having taken up the peaceful vocation of master painter. ● During a raid on a Nazi safehouse in France, Brock encounters a Nazi sympathizer; a French vampire named Troubadour. After a long battle, Troubadour escapes and vows revenge on Brock for disrupting his plans. He would return several times over the years to plague Brock and the team. ● While her Uncle has adventures with his new teammates, Mary Recard works on tracking down her mother’s killer. Blackjack actually comes across her during a covert operation into France, and gives her his blessing to continue her work with the Resistance. ● Andrew Gray encounters various Nazi occultist trying to reform the Thule Society during an undercover mission into Munich. He halts their attempt to open a gateway to Ultima Thule killing the cultists in the process. 1944 ● Joseph Perkins’ plane, L’il Maddy, is shot down in the skies over France. His last words reportedly are “Tell my family I love them. And please kill Hitler for me.” Brock delivers the news, and his dogtags, to Perkins’ family in France. He then goes on a rampage and kills many Nazis. Afterward, he assumes command of the task force. ● Later that year the mysterious ‘Fighting Flechette’ takes the skies seeking to avenge his death. It is assumed to be Perkins’ son Jean on a quest for vengeance. ● Wulff engages the last survivor of the program that created him, Otto Hundmetzger, in personal combat in the Black Forest. Otto transforms into an enormous werewolf during the course of the duel, and receives a bayonet in the throat for his troubles. Thus, Karl Ruprecht Vachss is the last of the Prussian supermen. ● Operation Mongoose is dispatched to neutralize the threat of the Mechanisch Soldaten by killing the Bronze Baron, now located in an underground Nazi factory deep inside the Alps. After a long and arduous battle, the team succeed in deactivating the factory, but the Bronze Baron himself escapes via a web of underground tunnels. He wouldn’t be seen again until 1946. ● Jacky grows considerably wealthy due to his gambling, never losing any game he plays. He goes from city to city to avoid suspicion of cheating. Meanwhile, Mary is kidnapped by Eberstark right before the liberation of Paris. He uses her as bait to lure in his old enemy, “Blackjack” Recard. While Blackjack manages to free his niece and avenge his sisters death, he falls to his own demise over the side of the Eiffel Tower, where the duel took place. His son does not learn of his death until after the war, as his traveling makes him hard to get a hold of. ● Doctor Elle della Torre’s work is integral in decoding clues relating to a mission for Operation Mongoose, which earns her a position as a consultant for the team. Her reports are delivered in person to Brock, and the team (aside from Brock) remains unaware of her despite her involvement. By this time she is able to travel through shadows from place to place, though that seems her only power. 1945 ● The war ends with the detonations of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The task force is officially disbanded by the Allies, but Jackson has other plans. He insists the surviving members continue their crusade against evil and injustice, renaming them the Frontliners. Later that year Bannon’s experiments with conductivity and electromagnetism lead to the development of a prototype suit of armor for Jackson. “Doc Ion” is born. Bannon uses the same technology to create gadgets for himself and adopts the name “Dynamo.” Gray, following his comrades examples, takes the name Mystico, donning the cape and tights. Bald Eagle is reported to have commented “I was doing this before it was fashionable.” ● Learning of his father’s death from his cousin who had returned home, Jacky begins to despair. Filled with shame, he resolves to take his father’s place amongst the team. Mary returns to France to wed the dashing leader of her old Resistance cell. As he was already wounded when Eberstark took her, she manages to marry him without incident, and quickly takes her husbands name. She lives out a normal, peaceful life from this point on. ● Brock meets his future third wife, Doctor Penelope Shuyler, who initially spurns his advances. He is persistent, however, and he eventually grows on her. Of course his manly chin dimple helps matters significantly. Ladies love the dimple. Her expertise in the medical and biology fields impress Brock so much that he invites her to join the Frontliners. She accepts and takes a job as the team’s doctor, assisting with wounds and illnesses but rarely accompanying any of them into the field. 1946 ● Brock and Penelope are married early in the year. It is the most memorable of the Jackson weddings. ● After a fairly successful year and some publicity, the Frontliners gain momentum. Jackson is flooded with requests to join the team, which he initially refuses. He is convinced to at least consider potential candidates, and eventually develops the Jackson Heroic Aptitude Battery (JHAB.) The JHAB is an incredibly dangerous (and often fatal) test using Jackson’s standards for what he believes heroes should be capable of. Out of the 294 applicants, only a handful are chosen; two of which are the offspring of deceased teammates from Jackson’s WWII days. A short film is distributed of Wulff completing the course with both of his arms secured to his waist. “See, it’s not so hard!” ● Doctor Elle della Torre studies the film reel of Wulff completing the course and is able to directly mimic his movements by memory when she completes the JHAB. Brock is initially wary of her motives and especially of her abilities, but is convinced by Penelope to give her a chance anyway. She chooses the name Fantasma and joins the team officially. Doctor Penelope and Fantasma become fast friends. ● Mystico engages a villain known as “Black Mage” in a magic duel, lasting many hours. The two exchange spells, until Mystico kicks Black Mage in the groin repeatedly, winning the duel once and for all. Brock congratulates Mystico on his victory after years of ridicule for his profession. It is the only time he will concede a compliment to the man. ● The villain “The Bronze Baron” threatens America with three hijacked atomic weapons. The Frontliners’ hasty response and courageous actions lead to the deactivation of the bombs and the presumed death of the Baron himself. The team is awarded with an official thanks from President Truman. Their fame rises significantly, making them the target of new and increasingly more dangerous villains. 1947 ● Penelope is captured by Troubadour. Despite a speedy response by the team using Fantasma’s shadowstep ability to travel, Penelope is turned into a ravenous bloodsucking creature of the night. The ensuing brawl ends in the death of Troubadour and the burning of his lair. Penelope is assumed to have perished in the blaze. ● Following Penelope’s death, Fantasma begins to study medicine in honor of her friend’s memory. 1948 - 1949 ● Brock remarries to a woman named Jenny Buchanan who would stay with him until his disappearance in 1949. ● The Frontliners enjoy publicity and moderate success (as well as criticism) as peacekeepers among the general populace. On November 17th, 1949, however, they disappear without a trace. Rumors abound their whereabouts, but they are quickly forgotten as more super-powered individuals and groups start to emerge and make a name for themselves. Of the group, only Wulff remains - when asked as to the whereabouts of his compatriots, he replied “Truthfully, I have no idea. I expect I shall see them again, of course.” The 1950s 1950 ● Jean Roux continues to lament his lack of success and continued obscurity as a painter. 1951 ● Jean Roux leaves France for the USA, changing his surname to ‘Fleming’ for unknown reasons. Later that year his first son, Arnold is born. ● Wulff is asked to serve with MI-6. He complies. The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 2000s 2008 2010 2011 Category:Help Category:World Category:Events